A group from the "Women of the Wall" organization, associated with the Reform movement, brought a Torah scroll into the women's section of the Western Wall this morning (Friday)during the Rosh Chodesh (new month) prayer, in clear violation of the established regulations at the site and desecrating the sacred scroll.
According to the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, members of the group smuggled the Torah scroll through the public restrooms and brought it into the women's section in a manner that they say constitutes "a serious violation of the sanctity of the site and the honor of the Torah scroll."
The Foundation issued the following statement: "A small group from the 'Women of the Wall' organization acted in blatant violation of the regulations when they smuggled a Torah scroll into the public restrooms and from there into the Western Wall plaza - attempting to create a provocation."
In response, "Women of the Wall" stated: "Our goal is to read from the Torah at the Western Wall and to bring a female voice to the site, and we are happy that we succeeded in doing so again this time. The coverings on the Torah scrolls are merely a symbol of the fact that we are forcibly denied the basic right to read from the Torah at the Western Wall. We will continue to fight for the female voice to be heard at the Western Wall, as we have done for 36 years."
Under Jewish law, it is forbidden to take holy books such as Torah scrolls into restrooms.